Despite patchy information and few new leads, Seattle police are continuing the hunt for the teens who beat salon owner Danny Vega, who died over the weekend from his injuries. Vega, who was openly gay, was assaulted and robbed by "three black males", while walking through South Seattle on November 15. Because of his injuries, he was able to give little information about his attackers before he died. more ›

Don't you just hate it when some douche's iPhone is all "ring ring ring!" in a movie theatre? It's probably one of the rudest things that a stranger can passively inflict on an audience full of other strangers, and it's basically unforgivable. But is it a reason to choke a dude? Especially when the movie is "Tower Heist"? more ›

The long arm of the law reaches a local costumed do-gooder. In a turn of events markedly different than the bus jacking foiled by the local masked crusader, Seattle police say that local "real life superhero" Phoenix Jones ended up on the wrong side of the law in the wee, last-call hours of Sunday morning. Jones, profiled by Publicola last year, is leader of the Rain City Superhero Movement -- which, as Nerdist says, "is equal parts awesome and stupid." more ›

Jon Russell, lead singer of the notably gentle-sounding local folk act, is accused of an violent, drunken assault that sounds more like Sid Vicious than Bob Dylan. more ›

Today we saw traumatic attacks that made us cringe, detectives, bad guys (and bad cops). But don't worry, there's some uplifting news, too--by teenagers, no less! more ›

It's not shoot-'em-up Friday, but still one man is dead and another on the run after an early morning shooting in the Rainer Valley area. Seattle police officers responded to multiple 911 calls Thursday morning around 3 a.m., reporting a disturbance between two men that ended with 4 to 6 gunshots fired in the area of Rainier Avenue South and South Byron Street. The victim, a 31-year-old male, was rushed to Harborview, where he later died of his gunshot wounds. Police are on the hunt for the shooting suspect, who is still at large and believed to have driven off in a pick-up truck. more ›

• The big news in local blogs today is the Seattle Times "collaboration" with hyperlocal blogstars such as West Seattle Blog, MyBallard, Capitol Hill Seattle, and Rainier Valley Post. Sure, there's warranted kicking and screaming about anything to do with the Times and online media, but is this the beginning of a beautiful friendship?
• Speaking of hyperlocal news, belltownpeople (giddy about being the densest neighborhood in Seattle) and CHS broke out mayoral race votes by 'hood.

If you see this man, call the police. At right is the official police sketch of the suspect wanted in connection with the brutal Sunday assault of two women in South Park. more ›

When police arrived, they found a chaotic scene of more than 100 people on the dock, many of them shouting and arguing. Officers then learned that some passengers were still physically fighting aboard the ship. Officers moved to the dock to begin clearing the ship, where they found a small group of people blocking the gangway and preventing passengers from leaving the vessel. more ›

• Belltown People wonders exactly how much the artsy Free Sheep Foundation was involved with Capitol Hill's recent Gamblergate sting operation. What's the vig, capisce?
• Meanwhile, over at MyBallard, the news is that kids are skipping out of Salmon Bay School with the swine flu hot on their heels. We wish could get another animal in this item.

The weirdest thing on the news last night with the least amount of airtime, thanks to the Sounders game (which was fun to watch, and we won 3-0, but moving on), was the stand-off down in Federal Way between a SWAT team and some guys accused of assaulting someone with a live electric cattle prod. The stand-off ended when the cops blew up the door of the guys' house with explosives. A cattle prod? Guess during a recession you're forced to get creative with your assault weapons. more ›

In one of the more horrifying local news items of last year, a garden-loving 60-year-old man was beaten to death at a traffic circle in Rainier Beach. The assaulter, Brian Keith Brown, just pleaded guilty to the second-degree murder charge brought against him and will now face sentencing in May. He's probably looking at between eight and eleven years in prison. Last summer he pled not guilty, so the case against him must have been looking particularly strong. We're not shedding any tears for this guy, though. more ›

Silly Queen Anne resident: girlfriends are for loving and fun-having, not for sacrificing. And human sacrifice is so 1999 BCE, anyway. Sounds like one Oumar Lam got way too carried away with bloodlust and tried to offer up his girlfriend's body as a sacrifice to an unspecified deity this weekend. Allegedly--kind of a ridiculous caveat given that the girlfriend received emergency surgery for knife wounds--Lam tried to slit her throat and stabbed her multiple times while under the influence of some kind of religious fervor. Thank God (hah!) she's okay. The man has been charged with first-degree assault. Anyone else thinking there must have been serious drug use involved? more ›

In the midst of the Election Day 2008 hullabaloo, we want to take a second to remember Seattle's Tuba Man, Edward McMichael. Robert Jamieson, who did this terrific interview with McMichael last year, brought the horrible news of Tuba Man's death:

On Oct. 25, police say, McMichael, 53, was near a bus stop in the 500 block of Mercer Street when thugs attacked, beating and robbing him after midnight. He was taken to the hospital for head wounds and was home recovering. But he died sometime Sunday or early Monday.

...do not find prostitutes on Craigslist. If you do, and they end up assaulting you or not going through with the agreed act (and we've told you this too), do not call the Seattle Police Department to report it. The Seattle 911 Blog has yet another example of what should be well known to you by this point, dear readers. An unnamed man found a prostitute on Craigslist; he met her, she upped the price of her services, and then the prostitute assaulted said man after he chased her to an AM/PM. The jilted john called the SPD to report the assault. Of course, when he reported the assault, he had to explain to the officer the events surrounding the assault and...well. As a result, he ended up with not only a case number and a warning from the SPD, but also with his very own Seattlest post. Don't do it, kids. more ›

A local man who wishes to remain anonymous was violently assaulted by a Starburst candy in downtown Seattle Monday evening. "I was just heading home from work and bam! I felt a sharp pain in the shoulder," the victim said. "I looked down and there it was. A Starburst candy. The pink kind. I don't remember what flavor pink is--strawberry or something--but it hurt!" When asked if the victim had a message for the assailant, he said, "Yeah. If you catch him, tell him he's an a**hole. Those things are hard. And pointy." more ›

Last night, as we were making some Niman Ranch sausage, some Critical Mass bicyclists were almost turned into sausage in the street outside. (We mention the kind of sausage because had it been cut-rate, we might have poked our heads out to take a look, but it wasn't and we were hungry.) more ›

Brian Keith Brown, the man suspected of killing a Rainier Beach gardener with a single punch, turned himself into the Seattle Police this morning. Police charged Brown on Monday and released his photo and name to the public. He's been placed under arrest and is facing charges of second-degree murder. His first arraignment is scheduled for July 28th. Considering the mob-style outrage regarding this senseless story, jail is probably the safest place for Brown right now...and is certainly where he belongs. more ›

(Or their caretakers.) What to do when someone is impeding the flow of evening traffic so he can water some flowers in a traffic circle? Take care of it Rainier Beach-style: Punch him! Lessons learned: 1) Let the traffic circle garden die, because your fellow citizens obviously don't give a shit. 2) Don't squirt people with your hose, even if they're moving traffic cones. 3) Don't send 60-year-old men to the hospital just for blocking traffic at a minor intersection. 4) No good deed goes unpunished. Aside to the tough guy: Turn yourself in, jerkface. more ›

A confrontation in a downtown parking lot escalated into an all-out battle involving nearly 40 people, which took a SWAT Team and Gang Unit to quell. The incident occurred in the Bank of America Plaza parking lot on Fifth Avenue around 2 a.m. on Saturday morning. Two local women were taken to Harborview for injuries sustained in the fight--one had been stabbed and the other beaten. more ›

Seems to be a big day for bail bonds and crime stories, and little else, in Seattle today. more ›

At an afternoon press conference, the Seattle Police announced they have arrested a man they believe groped an Asian woman in South Seattle on Saturday and who they hope may be behind over two-dozen similar attacks. Darin Boler has been charged with second-degree robbery and fourth-degree assault for Saturday's incident. (The robbery charge is for stealing a would-be-witness' cell phone/camera.) Boler is a registered sex offender and has been previously convicted for raping a child and robbery. He is currently being held on a $500,000 bond. Hopefully, this is the beginning of the end of the attacks that have terrorized South Seattle residents for over two years. more ›

The man Seattle police simply call "the groper" has attacked another woman in South Seattle. The serial sexual assaulter grabbed an Asian-American woman who was walking with a toddler on Saturday morning in the 7500 block of Renton Avenue South. The victim screamed, drawing the attention of several witnesses, including one who tried to take a photo of the attacker's car and license plate with a cell phone camera. For his efforts, the good Samaritan was charged by the attacker, pushed to the ground, and his cell phone was stolen. While the groper's attention was on the good Samaritan as he ran away, the victim of the assault also fled the scene and has not been located by police. more ›

There's a 36-year-old senior surgical resident with the University of Washington who's in the hospital as a patient this week. Police are still looking for his assailants. If you were wandering around Belltown at 2 a.m. on Sunday morning and remember seeing a fight, or a group of meatheads running away from one, call the Seattle Police Department's Homicide and Assault unit at 206-684-5550. more ›

After a series of random attacks on women in Beacon Hill, the Chinese Information & Service Center is hosting a free self-defense class on Thursday night. The workshop will begin at 6:30p.m. on April 10th at 611 S. Lane St. in Seattle. The center hopes the workshop will help women feel more comfortable in their neighborhood after the assaults, and will teach students what to do in case they are attacked. more ›

Another woman was attacked early this morning, in the latest string of violent assaults against Asian women on Beacon Hill. Around 2am, a 55-year-old woman was attacked outside her home when she returned from work. more ›